HannibalThe Military Biography of Rome’s Greatest Enemy, by Richard A. Gabriel (Potomac, $34.95). The Carthaginian general was a first-rate tactician—and not the ogre of Roman lore, argues the author.

The Siege of WashingtonThe Untold Story of the Twelve Days That Shook the Union, by John Lockwood and Charles Lockwood (Oxford, $27.95). Immediately after Fort Sumter, Washington prepared for a Con­federate assault as it stood largely undefended against its new enemy.

The Last Mission of the Wham Bam BoysCourage, Tragedy, and Justice in World War II, by Gregory A. Freeman (Palgrave Macmillan, $26). The author of the best-selling The Forgotten 500 narrates the powerful tale of an American bomber crew shot down over Germany and lynched by a mob of civilians later tried for war crimes.

Desert HellThe British Invasion of Meso­po­ta­mia, by Charles Townshend (Belknap, $35). Iraq was born of conflict—and from a grand example of “mission creep,” contends this account of Britain’s World War I fight in the Middle East.

To End All WarsA Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914–1918, by Adam Hochschild (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $28). Hochschild (King Leopold’s Ghost) studies World War I’s critics as well as its generals and leaders.

The Union War by Gary W. Gallagher (Harvard, $29.95). The noted Civil War historian and author (The Confederate War) examines the motivations of the North’s citizen-soldier.

The Age of Airpower by Martin van Creveld (PublicAffairs, $35). This history charts the birth of military aviation, its World War II glory days, and its decline.

COMING SOON

Churchill’s War LabCode-Breakers, Boffins and Innovators: The Mavericks Churchill Led to Victory, by Taylor Downing. Carthage Must Be DestroyedThe Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization, by Richard Miles.

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